The strange parallelism between an aesthetically “clean” environment and the imaginary safety of said environment resulted in a wave of harmful legislation and policing policies. I believe that these abusive policies are the issue, as far as the issues we have covered in class, that directly impacted my experience in New York City. I have been a direct witness to police tactics aimed at “cleaning” a neighborhood up, that simply result in antagonized citizens already at a severe disadvantage within the community. Friends of mine with otherwise completely clean records ending up suspended from high schools in which they were performing appropriately because principles catch wind of their arrest for graffiti. A violation whose consequence could’ve been a ticket was escalated to the point of trial, and although the charges were immediately dropped, the resounding consequences in that young man’s life affected the level of eduction to which he was exposed. Alienating and disenfranchising misdemeanor offenders seems to me like a counter productive strategy, as it only fuels the cycle of poverty and distrust of police. Cleanliness of walls and of citizens does not translate to safety, but they are telling of much deeper issues that must be solved as opposed to making the victims of these problems disappear. A 17 year old with a marker should not be held overnight in the same cell as dangerous criminals, taught to equate himself to them, and then stripped of opportunity, and to think that this strategy is helping the city move forward is foolish.